Copa Holdings reports Q3 results

By Dino D'Amore
November 13, 2013 12:40

Copa Holdings has reported net income of US$126.0 million for 3Q13, or diluted earnings per share (EPS) of US$2.84. Excluding special items, Copa Holdings would have reported an adjusted net income of $116.2 million, or $2.62 per share, a 19.0% increase over adjusted net income of US$97.6 million and US$2.20 per share for 3Q12.

Operating income for 3Q13 came in at US$147.5 million, a 29.3% increase over operating income of US$114.1 million in 3Q12. Operating margin for the period came in at 21.8% or 2.5 percentage points over 3Q12, mostly as a result of higher unit revenues.

Total revenues increased 14.7% to US$677.3 million. Yield per passenger mile decreased 0.1% to 17.2 cents and operating revenue per available seat mile (RASM) increased 2.8% to 13.9 cents. However, adjusting for a 7.5% increase in average length of haul, yields increased 3.6% and RASM increased 6.6%.

Cash, short term and long term investments ended 3Q13 at US$1.0 billion, representing 40.7% of the last twelve months’ revenues.

During the third quarter, Copa Airlines took delivery of three Boeing 737-800 aircraft. As a result, Copa Holdings ended the quarter with a consolidated fleet of 89 aircraft. Additionally, during the months of September and October, Copa Airlines completed the extension of four 737-700 aircraft leases that were expiring in 2014.

For 3Q13, Copa Holdings reported consolidated on-time performance of 87.3% and a flight-completion factor of 99.7%, maintaining its position among the best in the industry.

For the month of October 2013, Copa Holdings’ system-wide passenger traffic (RPM) increased 9.4% year over year, while capacity increased 9.2%. As a result, system load factor for October 2013 was 74.3%, a 0.1 percentage point increase when compared to October 2012.

International passenger traffic grew 10.8%, while capacity increased 10.5%. This resulted in a load factor of 74.2%, a 0.2 percentage point increase when compared to October 2012. For the month, International capacity represented 96.8% of total capacity.